SHAZAM helps post office boost use of debit cards

Northwestern Financial Review, Sep 5, 1998

The SHAZAM network, in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service, announced last month the acceptance of debit cards at post offices throughout the United States.

The recent rollout in Iowa is part of a nationwide plan to enable U.S. Postal customers to use their SHAZAM check debit card or any other debit card to purchase postal products and services-including services not chargeable to a credit card such as money orders, meter settings and bulk mail payments.

Beginning two years ago, 60,000 card acceptance terminals were installed through a joint effort between the U.S. Postal Service and NationsBank of Charlotte, N.C. "We have the most retail outlets accepting payment with a card. Now we want to build the largest card transaction volume in the U.S.," said Stephen Kearney, postal service treasurer, responsible for this effort.

"Support for universal access in point-of-sale markets is vital and SHAZAM is always looking for new opportunities to benefit our POS customers," said Chris Thomas, senior vice president of SHAZAM. "This joint effort with the U.S. Postal Service is a perfect chance to provide such opportunities and we look forward to a prosperous relationship with them."

SHAZAM, based in Johnston, Iowa, is one of the largest electronic funds transfer networks in the Midwest.